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US Holocaust Museum Opened a New Conservation and Research Center

There are too many artifacts and memories for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to display at its location in D.C. On Holocaust Remembrance Day, a new facility opened to give archivists another place to preserve the past. News4's Mark Segraves took a look inside.

(Published Monday, April 24, 2017)

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s new Conservation and Research Center opened Monday in Prince George’s County.

Dozens of Holocaust survivors attended the ribbon-cutting for the new center, which fell on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The Conservation and Research Center was funded in large part by the family of Fela Shapell, a Holocaust survivor.

The museum’s website says it is “aggressively collecting evidence of the Holocaust before it is too late.”

With the museum expected to double in size over the next decade, the new center will allow for this expansion and will have laboratories, equipment and climate-controlled environments to properly preserve the artifacts collected.

"I love what we do," archivist Julie Schweitzer said. "We’re rescuing memories. The children stories are the hardest for me as a mother, but there’s nothing else we can do except preserve the stories."

The center currently holds more than 20,000 artifacts, including items like diaries, furniture and musical instruments.

Holocaust survivors who attended the ribbon-cutting felt it is much more than just a collection of museum artifacts, it will help tell their story.

"It means the Holocaust will not be forgotten and the world will learn the lessons of the Holocaust, the dangers of hate,” survivor Al Munzer told News4.